Mobile wallets have always been a hard sell. In many countries, credit and debit cards work well enough that consumers don't want to learn a new way to pay. But banks and technology companies are committed to bringing their wallet apps to market. In an effort to stay competitive, these companies have spent considerable effort to get their wallets to stand out not only against competitors, but against the compelling option to keep using cash and cards.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will soon kick off a cash-back incentive for credit card customers who pay with a mobile wallet, and it doesn’t matter if the transaction is handled by its proprietary Chase Pay platform or Apple Pay, Android Pay or Samsung Pay.

Chase Pay was years in the making, and it's still finding new ways to reach its intended audience. On the surface it seems like a simple QR code-based mobile wallet, but underneath it's far more complex.

Chase Pay is the result of years of investment in ChaseNet, a closed-loop system that allows JPMorgan Chase to cut costs in a way few other banks could. So what value — if any — does Chase get from buying the discarded remains of the MCX merchants' mobile wallet?